Floyd: Starks Won't Be Going Anywhere

John Starks continues to make it clear: He does not want to be with the Bulls.

Starks and General Manager Jerry Krause met briefly on Friday, and Krause told the veteran guard that the Bulls do not plan to waive him so he can sign with a playoff contender.

The Bulls acquired Starks and a conditional first-round draft pick in a recent three-team trade with Golden State and Philadelphia that sent Toni Kukoc to the 76ers. Larry Hughes and Billy Owens went to the Warriors. The Bulls also acquired forward Bruce Bowen, who was waived.

Starks' understanding was that the Bulls would try their best to trade him to a contender before last Thursday's deadline. Failing that, Starks, 34, wants to be released so that a team such as the Miami Heat can sign him.

"I will probably sit down and talk to [Krause]. I'm pretty sure [agent] Leigh Steinberg will talk to him eventually," Starks said Saturday.

But Bulls coach Tim Floyd is having none of it. "He's not being released and not being traded," Floyd said emphatically. "He's on our team, and he's going to be playing."

Starks said he hopes to be on a playoff roster by Tuesday, but when he spoke with Krause on Friday, he did not hear the answer he wanted. "Discussions went very well, but we will just have to see what goes on in the next three days," he said.

The Bulls would have to absorb about $500,000 of Starks' $4 million salary if they release him.

Starks scored 11 points in the first half of Thursday's game at Indiana, but played only 12 minutes and went scoreless against San Antonio on Friday night. He missed the second half after complaining of sore knees and also sat out Saturday's practice. Floyd said he doubts Starks will play Sunday night at Detroit, especially if he misses the team's shootaround Sunday morning. The Bulls play at Toronto on Tuesday.

"This is a team that's going to be good in the future," Starks said. "With some good picks and some good free agents, they're going to be back in the mix of things. But you don't know when that's going to happen, so I have to see what's best for John Starks and my family right now. I don't think Chicago could commit to me [with a long-term contract] right now. So I have to see what's best for me."

Floyd won't allow Starks' discontent to create dissension.

"We'll cross that road when we get to it," he said. "I don't see it based on how he has been."

Krause insists it would behoove Starks to play his best with the Bulls the final two months of the season in order to enhance his free-agent marketability at the end of the season.

"That's a good point," Starks conceded. "But what drives me is not so much money, but being within that playoff atmosphere. That's what drives me. I've been through losing with Golden State, and I'm not one to accept losing. It eats at me and I don't sleep well. To go through that for the next two months, that wouldn't be healthy for me, to be honest with you.

"Plus when you're in the playoffs, you get to show a little bit more than by just playing the season out and going about your business."

- Bulls scorekeeper Bob Rosenberg never has missed working a home game in the 24-year history of the franchise. But Major League Baseball has asked him to be the official scorer for the Cubs-Mets series in Japan at the end of March.

That means Rosenberg will miss the March 29 Bulls-Cleveland game at the United Center, ending his streak at 1,392 games.